Taming Dragons
by KT the Shimmer Skank
Summary: Axel is looking for the truth, but he can't find it without her. KairiAxel.


**Taming Dragons**

**--by KT the Shimmer Skank**

Notes: Kind of fluffy. A sort-of futurefic. The story should set up its own context, hopefully. Contains kissing, vague references to violence, and even vaguer references to sexuality. Could probably pass for K+ but is T to be safe.

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

There was a legend, in the Land of Dragons, of a man. A warrior, a hero. They called him the Dragon-Tamer. He wielded magic, commanded the power of fire. He battled the winged monsters that roamed the Chinese skies and with his unique mastery of fire-magic, was able to defeat them. He spoke their language. He tamed them, eased their fierce hearts, taught them to live at his command.

His abilities made him arrogant and greedy. With an army of dragons, he turned against the emperor and attacked the empire. His lust for power blinded him to all things. In his quest to conquer, he killed thousands of innocents. His heart was devoured in darkness, swallowed by his own heartlessness. He became a Heartless himself, so lost was he in the dark, and was eventually destroyed by the imperial army.

All worlds had stories like these. Legends of fallen heroes. Once the worlds were connected by the pathways the Keyblade Master had opened, the lore of worlds was spread from one to another. Stories, whispers, word-of-mouth. The story of the Dragon-Tamer caught Axel's attention. It was the reason he had come here, the reason he had abandoned the King's Army. There was a truth to the Dragon-Tamer's legend, and Axel needed to find it.

High in the mountains, the air was thin and dry. It made his throat crackle and wheeze as he breathed. Axel stood at the entrance of the cave where they'd made camp for the night, watching the endless deluge of white flakes coat the rolling hills in thick snow. Across the ridges, a smoldering sphere of orange sunlight was steadily creeping out from the horizon. Morning was slowly moving closer, though the warmth of daylight wouldn't touch a thing in the icy mountains.

Axel lifted the hood of his long black coat over his head, tucking away his untamed wildfire of hair. He walked back into the cave, where Kairi was curled up in a sleeping bag on the ground next to the fire he had kept burning all night for her. Still, she shivered as she slept. He watched white billowing breaths move out of her mouth.

He crouched down beside her, soaking in the whole of the image before him. In the firelight, he saw that her cheeks were wind-burned and pink. The strands of auburn hair that veiled her tender face were tangled and dirty. The journey had been long and hard, and he could see that it was beginning to take a toll on her physically. He closed his eyes and sighed. There was nothing he'd rather see each morning than Kairi's figure nearby, but he felt guilty for dragging her into this quest. It didn't concern her. It was his truth to find.

He reached out and placed his calloused hand against the warm flesh of her chest. He inhaled deeply, entranced by the feel of her heartbeat. Before Kairi, he had never been so close to a heart. He had never felt its warmth, listened to its rhythm. There was no heart inside his weary bones. Being next to Kairi's sometimes made him feel like just a sliver of that heartbeat belonged to him. Like if he got close enough, it would move his own blood.

He combed his fingers through her hair and placed a kiss on her chapped lips. The kiss woke her, and sleepily, she lifted her head, staring at Axel with her jewel-blue eyes. She smiled. "Good morning," she said, tugging affectionately at the strings of his cloak. She pulled him to her and returned his kiss, warming his frozen lips with her own. "Haven't you slept at all?"

"I slept for awhile," he lied. There was no sleep for the restless.

"Should we head out?" said Kairi, rousing quickly and immediately rolling up her sleeping bag. Axel was frozen between a smirk and a frown. He could hardly believe, sometimes, the strength of Kairi's spirit and will. She seemed so frilly and delicate on the surface, barely a young woman yet, but in reality she was as tough as you needed her to be.

It was endearing, and part of the reason he had secretly lusted for her for so long. But it was also part of the reason he now felt a sting in the heart he didn't have. Why had he been so selfish? Why had he brought her into this?

"No, no, there's no rush," said Axel, stroking her arm softly. "The sun's still rising. We can spare a few minutes."

Kairi nodded. "Alright then. How about I make us a little breakfast, then?" She began bustling through her knapsack, retrieving a small iron skillet and some eggs she had gathered the day before.

"Kairi," said Axel, slowly. "Don't you regret it? Don't you regret leaving the King's Army just to come with me on this stupid fool's errand?"

Kairi looked up from the skillet, where she stirred together whites and yolks over the crackling fire. Her eyes were soft and tender. She half-smiled. "I support the King, and I believe in what he's doing. But I know Sora and Riku and all the others will serve him well. This quest is important to you, and so it's important to me. It's as simple as that." She paused and took a deep breath. "Besides, after the scandal of you and I getting together… I think we're only a distraction for the Army at this point. Our lives were meant for something new."

Axel held his breath. How could she speak so calmly of their indiscretions? They were deserters. They were adulterers. Their love had been fast and secretive and dangerous. They had fallen hard and without consideration of the consequences. In love, they had betrayed those who were close to them. In love, they had turned their back on the cause they swore to fight for. In love, they thought only of themselves and had left everything else behind. In love, Axel had made Kairi a fire-breathing monster like himself, and now the guilt was killing him.

Axel didn't understand why Kairi had fallen for him. For him it was unavoidable. From the moment he laid eyes on her, she stirred something inside of him he had never felt. She challenged him, she frustrated him, she made him feel vulnerable; all these things he despised, and yet it only drove him to want her more. How she possibly could have returned those feelings still bewildered him, even as they journey worlds together as lovers, laid with their skin next to one another each night.

Normally he wouldn't have cared about the lives he ruined, the hearts he broke. But Kairi was different. She made him feel something _different._ Axel didn't deserve her.

"I'm so sorry," he responded. "I'm so sorry for everything I've made you do. Stealing you from your childhood love, from your duties to the King. I've stolen you. I've ruined you. You belong with them. They need you."

Kairi removed the skillet from the flames and placed it on the ground, then crawled aggressively towards Axel, on hands and knees. She surprised him by pulling open his cloak and placing her hands on his chest, pushing him down to the ground.

"But _I _need_ you_," she said huskily as she hovered over him, eyes shining. "You've got to start giving me credit. I have always done what I've wanted to do. Maybe it's reckless, what I've gone through with you, but that what happens when you're in love. Nothing else matters. What matters is me and you." She caressed his chest with her arms, kissed him powerfully on the mouth. "You never stole anything but my heart. My heart… it's yours, Axel. When you find out who you are, if this Dragon-Tamer is really your origin, I want to be there. I want to be with you."

He kissed her, and kissed her. He clutched her soft hair in his rough hands, and kissed her. And kissed her. She challenged him, she frustrated him, she made him feel vulnerable; all these things he despised, and yet it only drove him to want her more. She squelched the raging fire inside of him. She made him feel safe in his own skin. She had given him her heart, the object in the world he coveted most.

She had tamed him.


End file.
